Letter from South Africa: Optimism reigns but challenges lurk
Large discoveries alone are not enough to guarantee Namibia makes a success of Africa’s most promising frontier
Two large, headline-grabbing oil discoveries have been made offshore Namibia in the Orange Basin. Shell and TotalEnergies have made what seem to be very sizeable finds with Graff and Venus, respectively. But Namibia becoming the next big oil hub in Africa is not as easy as it might seem. From a commercial perspective, the fact that both finds are predominantly oil is clearly a good thing. From an emissions perspective, perhaps not so much. So what is it going to take to get these two fields into production? First and foremost, more appraisal is needed to gain a better idea of the volumes in place and potential recoverable reserves. Appraisal will also help answer some of the massive hype aro

Also in this section
25 July 2025
Mozambique’s insurgency continues, but the security situation near the LNG site has significantly improved, with TotalEnergies aiming to lift its force majeure within months
25 July 2025
There is a bifurcation in the global oil market as China’s stockpiling contrasts with reduced inventories elsewhere
24 July 2025
The reaction to proposed sanctions on Russian oil buyers has been muted, suggesting trader fatigue with Trump’s frequent bold and erratic threats
24 July 2025
Trump energy policies and changing consumer trends to upend oil supply and demand